Listen
by FriendsLovers
Summary: A stubborn Parker realises how dangerous one of her hobbies really can be, and Eliot has to try something new to protect her.


**Title:** Listen  
**Summary:** A stubborn Parker realises how dangerous one of her hobbies really can be, and Eliot has to try something new to protect her.  
**Characters:** Parker, Eliot, with bits of the other team members  
**Pairings:** Eliot/Parker (friendship or romance, whatever you like)  
**Rating:** PG - 13  
**Disclaimer:** I DON'T own anyone or anything. I DON'T own the characters. The fanfic is written for fun, NOT for profit.

* * *

With the little flash drive securely hidden in one of her suit's many pockets, Parker hurried through the tall hotel building, getting closer and closer to her exit. The job was done, now everyone just needed to get out, on their chosen ways preferably. For her, that was the rooftop of course, only another flight of stairs away.

"Parker, I don't think you should go out there yet," Hardison's voice told her through the earbud then. "There's still that security guy up on the roof. He could easily catch you, you know? Better wait a little bit longer, just to make sure that he won't see you when you come out."

Parker snorted. "One security guy? So what? I don't even get why a hotel must have a security guy on their rooftop in the first place, but I bet that's not one of their more dangerous guys. I can do it. He won't even realise I'm there. Will just get into my harness and off I am."

Hardison sighed at the other end, making her smirk. Sometimes, the team amused her. She knew they all had to be careful, that jobs could get really dangerous at times, especially if one wasn't as concentrated as they were supposed to be.

But that wasn't a problem for her. She knew how to get her job done. She was good at what she was doing after all. One single security guy? He wouldn't even notice she was there in the first place.

"Listen to Hardison," Eliot's voice ordered then. "I'm on my way. Let me take care of that guy first."

Parker rolled her eyes. "Oh, come on! Just one silly guy! I can handle him. Besides, you wanted to take another direction, didn't you? You don't have to come back just for him!" With a grin, she ignored the protest she received from both men in response. She would prove them wrong.

Pushing the exit door open, she gasped as she was greeted by a strong breeze that hit her. The day had started beautifully: warm, and with a lot of sunshine. Somewhere along the line, it had obviously changed. The sun was hidden behind thick, grey clouds, the wind had increased, roughly playing with her ponytail. Quickly, she made her way over to where she had hidden everything she needed for her exit already. The lines were prepared. She wouldn't need longer than a couple of seconds to get into her harness. She chuckled at the delicious tickling she felt at the prospect of jumping off this high building.

"Parker, no!" Hardison repeated once again, louder this time. For a second, she froze as she realised that he wasn't just trying to tell her what to do but seriously sounded worried. "Leave! He's right around the corner!"

"I'm almost..." she started. Her voice trailed off before she could finish. She didn't need Hardison to point out that the offending security guy was no longer just around the next corner. Slowly, she straightened herself before she turned around. Said man stood right in front of her now, studying her with a grin that made her shudder.

"Look who we got here," he said. "You guys seriously thought you can come in here, steal all that stuff and get out without anyone trying to stop you? Kinda arrogant, don't you think?"

"You're not one of the security people?" Parker couldn't help but ask, carefully making a step backwards. Mentally, she cursed herself as she scanned her surroundings. There was nowhere to go. The man had cornered her, allowing her no chance to escape to either side. She could only confront him directly, or jump off the building. The line was still out of reach though. She could hear Eliot telling her he was on his way, to keep the man busy until he would arrive and get her out.

The man laughed. "One of the hotel's security guys you mean? Don't offend me. Those idiots don't even know there are some of us among them. No, I was supposed to stay up here, because we knew at least one of you would try to escape via the rooftop." With his grin widening, he stepped even closer. "Give me what you stole."

"I don't have it anymore," Parker said instinctively. "I...gave it to the others already before...I came up here. You...don't seriously think I'd be so stupid to steal it and keep it, right?"

The man studied her with narrowed eyes, obviously debating whether or not she was serious. For a brief moment, Parker could feel a rush of relief. Until he made another huge step into her direction.

"You don't have it, yeah?" he asked back. "Then there's no reason why I shouldn't just get rid of you, right?"

Parker managed to duck away from the first punch. The next one reached its goal though. She barely noticed the pain as the man's fist connected with her left cheek. Too focused she was on the fact that for a moment, she lost control over her body. This moment didn't last longer than a matter of seconds, but was enough for her to stumble backwards. By the time she hit the small wall, that surrounded the edge of the rooftop, with the back of her knees, she knew the man had just chosen her exit for her. A scream erupted from her as she fell.

The fall wasn't the way she had imagined it, had been looking forward to. She fell fast, but she knew there was no line that would catch her just in time. She reached out for whatever she could possibly grab. Indeed, her fingers met something hard and rough then. Instinctively, she closed them around it, hissing in pain as her body came to a sudden stop. Her fingers clenched even more firmly around the edge of the ornament she was now clinging to.

Parker didn't have to look either down or upwards to know how far she still had to go. Her mind was spinning, trying to process what had just happened to her. Fortunately, her instinct was strong enough to tell her hurting fingers to hold on, to not let go of the rough stones this part of the façade was made of. Then, as the fog, caused by shock and surprise, slowly started to lift, she became aware of the loud mix of voices in her ear. Of course everyone was already aware of what had happened to her. She couldn't completely make out what they were saying, apart from her name being shouted repeatedly.

"I'm okay," she managed to whisper, unable to increase the volume of her voice. Her fingers were aching horribly, so was the pain shooting through her arms, into her shoulders. The increasing, almost icy wind only made it worse. Hanging freely in the air, she couldn't keep herself still. "I'm okay."

"Parker, can you hear me?" one loud voice shouted then, its calm, almost strangely collected sound having the welcoming effect that the others finally stopped yelling. Much quieter, Eliot added, "Can you hear me?"

"I can hear you," she said, as loud as she could. "He...pushed me off the rooftop. Didn't manage to get into my harness in time. But...I'm not falling anymore..." She could hear him clearly now. His voice was still calm, collected, and having the wished effect on her: slowly, she could focus again. "I...didn't fall that far, from what I can tell," Parker forced herself to say. "There's this...ornament...in the façade. I managed to catch it. I'm...holding on to that."

"Well done, you," Eliot said, unable to suppress a sigh of relief. "Can you reach any of the windows below or above you? Or can you climb up on top of that ornament and stay there?"

"No." Once again, her voice wasn't more than a whisper. Carefully, she tried again, but the windows below her were too far out of her reach. Same counted for everything that was above her. "No, I...can't get anywhere from here. Just...have to hold on."

She swallowed hard. Never before, she had been in such a situation, and never had expected to get into it. Whenever she had jumped off a building or down an elevator shaft in the past, she had had the security of her lines to rely on. Parker had been fully aware of the situation, of the consequences her actions could have. To sum it up: she had been in control. The only danger she had ever thought of had been either the lines snapping or her crashing into a building because of the wind. That she would be dangling off one, without a way down or up, being absolutely helpless and out of control, was entirely new to her.

And it scared her more than anything else. For Parker, her biggest hobby had never been dangerous in her eyes. She had made fun of Hardison for a reason after all. Jumping off skyscrapers made her feel good, in a way that allowed her to just be, in this particular, stunning moment of falling, until her trustworthy lines would catch her. For Parker, simply falling off a building and helplessly clinging to a broad piece of ornament, with nowhere to go but down, had never been an option.

Now, facing the impossible, Parker wished she had considered this option, so she could have gotten prepared for it. All she could do at the moment was holding on, or letting go. Then, she could only hope that she could be unconscious before she would connect with the ground. She dearly hoped the team wouldn't suffer too much from what such a fall would do to her body the moment she'd arrive at her destination.

"I'm going to get you, you heard me?" Eliot said, and the impatience in his voice told her it wasn't the first time. "I'm on my way. Almost at the rooftop. Hold on a little longer. I'm going to get you, okay?"

"Yes," she whispered back, squeezing her eyes shut for a moment as the increasing wind brought tears to her eyes. She could afford having her view fogged with them.

"Maybe we could try and get her up to one of the windows above her," Sophie suggested then, being the first of the other three that spoke. Unlike Eliot, she wasn't able to hide the overwhelming fear she was currently struggling with.

"Sounds good," Hardison agreed. "I figured out where she has to be. The windows are quite far away from her location indeed, but if we..."

"No!" Parker exclaimed, surprising herself with the unexpected volume of her voice. "Don't...If you're not careful, you're going to...fall out." The thought made her shudder. Parker was well aware of the fact that she had gotten herself into this situation because she hadn't listened to Hardison and Eliot. The idea of anyone of the others getting hurt because they were trying to rescue her pained her.

"But we could..." Sophie started.

"No!" this time Eliot's sharp voice said. "I'm going to get her. Stay away! What if you can't reach her? If you can't get her up? If she falls anyway? If you drop her?"

Parker knew he wanted to say more, because she was having the same thoughts. Could they live with the sight of her falling all those stories until she would meet the ground? She knew she couldn't if she was in their situation.

"Eliot's right," Nate eventually said, and Parker was grateful that he was able to sound calm and focused as well. "I got something else for us to do. Come on."

Closing her eyes again, Parker blinded out what Nate was explaining to the others. She had to concentrate. She could barely feel her fingers anymore: due to pain and to the wind that was cooling them down more and more. She knew if she didn't stay completely focused, she would accidentally let go.

"I'm on the rooftop now," Eliot announced then. "I'm almost there. Your harness is still in its hiding place, isn't it? He didn't throw it off the building, too?"

"It's still...there," she managed to say between gritted teeth. Now, for the first time, she actually allowed herself to think about how he was going to help her in the first place. So far, the plain thought of him taking care of her had been enough for Parker to believe he would find a way. As realisation hit her now, she added, "But...you don't know how..."

"You told all of us how to do this," Eliot reminded her. "You trust in me, don't you? Just hold on. I know what I'm doing."

Parker felt the urge to argue back, but the noises she could hear through the earbud told her he had just met her attacker. The fight didn't last long.

"Found your harness," Eliot said then. "The lines, too. Give me a few more seconds. I'll be right there."

Parker only nodded in response. She was unable to get any further words out. Her heart was hammering hard in her chest as she struggled with her increasing panic. Eliot had arrived at the rooftop, had taken care of the man who had brought her into this situation. Now he had to readjust her harness to the size of his body, had to attach himself to the lines. If he had really listened to her back when she had explained her inventory to the team, he wouldn't need longer than a few seconds.

But were those already too much for her? Forcing her eyes open, Parker looked upwards, to where her hands were desperately holding on. Blood was running down her wrists, down her arms. She could barely feel her fingers anymore. One wrong movement and she would fall. For endlessly long seconds, she would know that for once, she had lost control, and that there was no way back anymore. And then...

"I'm coming to get you now."

It was just one short sentence, but it was enough to make Parker focus again. Looking up a little further, she could see him standing at the edge of the roof, staring down at her. Once again, she shuddered. So many times already, she had shoved Hardison off a building. Even Sophie had jumped together with her once. Eliot had always refused to join her on her way out of a job. He preferred his own way: right through the middle, taking down whoever tried to stop him. It was the first time he would do this, without her expert eyes checking whether or not he had done everything right first.

Parker opened her mouth to tell him not to do it, but before she got a single word out, he had already jumped. Slowly and carefully, he let himself down to her, stopping right beside her.

"You...aren't upside down, like Hardison always is," she couldn't help but say as she stared back at him.

Eliot shook his head at her, not without offering the hint of a smile at her words though. It was this moment that revealed that by far, he wasn't as calm as he wanted to make her believe. For a second, she saw the fear in his eyes. But within another second, he was back in control over himself.

"Told you I'd get you," he said as he reached out and firmly closed his arms around her waist. Instinctively, she wrapped her legs around his, still holding on with her injured hands.

"You can let go now," he whispered into her ear. "I got you. I promise."

Parker only nodded in response. Forcing her fingers to let go of the ornament, she pressed herself against him as tightly as possible before her arms closed around him in a tight hug. He held on to her even more firmly, simply keeping her close for a couple of moments.

"She's safe," he said then.

With those words, he carefully let them down the building further and further. Parker barely realised how Eliot stopped them eventually, how two hands helped them to climb through an open window. Only when she could hear the voices of Sophie and Hardison, she knew that she was no longer outside, dangling in the wind.

"It's okay, Parker," Nate's warm voice said then, and once again, she could feel how those two hands grabbed her.

But she didn't allow him to pull her away. Instead, she buried her face in Eliot's shirt, refusing to look up, tightening her arms and legs around him even more. She didn't want to see Nate's face: that calm face with the mix of fear and shock in his eyes because they had almost lost their little thief. She also didn't want to see Hardison and Sophie, who both wouldn't be able to hide the tears in their eyes, would try to hug her, hold her, pat her like a little girl and tell her everything was okay. She didn't want any of this. She didn't even want them to see her like this: so shaken up, so unable to focus, and injured.

"I'm going to take care of her hands," Eliot said then, and with a rush of relief, she realised he carried her through the hotel room. The other two hands let go of her. Once again, she could hear Sophie, once again she could hear Hardison, and once again she had no idea what they were saying. A sigh escaped her as she felt how she was carried into a different room.

As she heard how the door was closed behind them, she finally allowed herself to loosen her grip. Eliot carefully helped her to sit down, on the toilet seat she assumed. She shivered lightly as one of his hands captured her cheek.

"Look at me, Parker," he ordered softly.

It took her another couple of moments until she was able to open her eyes completely. He was kneeling in front of her, studying her closely. She wasn't sure whether he was checking for injuries or just trying to see if she was okay. Probably both.

"You don't want the others to see you like that," Eliot stated then.

Parker nodded in agreement. She knew she didn't have to speak. He understood. Gently, he ran a hand through her hair before he said, "You're in a state of shock right now. I can't leave you alone, so I'll take care of you. I'm going to get the first-aid stuff and tell them to leave already. Does that sound okay to you?"

She nodded again. In silence, she waited until he had left her alone in the bathroom. Then she dared to look at her hands again. It seemed like every inch of them was cut in some way. She brushed over one of the scratches. The blood instantly returned from the injury. Slowly, small puddles of blood were forming in her palms.

Her hands. Parker believed they were her most important body parts. She needed them for her job: strong, perfectly trained hands. Today, said hands had saved her life. And they had suffered a lot.

Instinctively, she looked up as the bathroom door was opened and closed again. Only now, she noticed the red hand prints she had left all over his shirt. Eliot didn't say anything as he opened the bag he had taken with him. He let her watch him while he put on gloves, placed various items on the floor before he turned his attention back to her.

"I'll have to wash your hands first," he explained, still in this calm, quiet voice. He had said that she was suffering from a shock. Probably this was his way of dealing with that.

"You think you can get up?" Eliot wanted to know.

Holding her bloody hands in front of her, Parker carefully moved to get up. Barely she stood, she was already shaking again. Her legs wouldn't agree. He had caught her before she even got the chance to get anywhere near the toilet seat again. Standing behind her, preventing her from falling, he guided her over to the sink. She watched as his hands turned the water on before they gently grabbed hers.

"We have to get the dirt out," Eliot explained. "I'll be careful, but it's still going to hurt."

Once again, Parker only nodded. Another sigh escaped her, and to her own surprise, she felt a new rush of relief. Having him around was the best option. He wouldn't assure her that everything was fine, that soon, her hands would stop hurting, that she would get over her shock. Because she knew the truth. Cleaning her hands would hurt. Getting over the shock would take a while, probably longer than she dared to imagine right now. She didn't need any flowery words, and she didn't want them either.

She couldn't prevent herself from wincing as he guided her hands under the running water. Eliot didn't stop though. Gently and carefully, he caressed her skin, washing the blood and dirt away. She was glad he stood so close, knowing that if she lost control over her legs completely, she wouldn't fall, and probably hit her head on the sink.

Wordlessly, Eliot turned the water off as he was done, and made her sit down again. "I'm going to disinfect your wounds first," he said then, pointing at one of the bottles. "That's going to burn a little. Then I'll put this stuff on. That usually doesn't hurt. And then come the bandages."

"Yes," she said quietly, not wanting to nod again. His presence in the room had the effect he had most likely been hoping for. Slowly, ever so slowly, she was calming down. Her ability to speak would return soon. She would stop shaking, although she would still be freezing inside: this wouldn't change for a while.

In silence, she watched as he expertly took care of her hands. A few minutes later, both of them were bandaged, the bloody scratches were hidden from her view. Parker studied them for a few minutes before she looked up. Eliot was still kneeling in front of her, watching her closely. This time, he wasn't trying to hide the concern in his eyes, knowing she was very well aware of it by now.

"Nate said he wants us to tell him when we're out," he explained then, breaking the silence. "They left stuff for us to change on the bed. We can leave now if you like. Get out of here and back home."

This time, she didn't nod, and didn't agree either. Instead, Parker stared back at him, wondering whether or not it was worth to fight against a different rush of emotions she was experiencing now. Being stuck in what had felt like some strange kind of fog and having him around, touching her all the time in some way, had prevented her from going down this route. Now realisation of what had just happened outside this building hit her with an overwhelming force, and once again, she could feel her heart starting to race.

"I...fell," she whispered, not sure if he could even hear her. "I...wasn't in control anymore...at all. I was...helpless."

"I know," Eliot replied, his voice not much louder than hers. "That was scary, wasn't it? But you're safe now. The job's over. I think we really should leave this building, get some distance between us and it, right?" Getting up, he offered a hand to her. "Come on, let's go." He offered an encouraging smile as she took his offer and allowed him to help her up as well. "You need help with changing?"

He accepted the 'no' he got in response. Without exchanging a further word, they changed into clean clothes. Gratefully, Parker snuggled into the coat the others had left behind, which allowed her to hide her bandaged hands in its pockets. Willingly, she left the hotel room together with Eliot then, dearly hoping she wouldn't attract too much attention. Tears had been falling somewhere along the line: whether or not those had been caused by the wind or fear she couldn't tell. She had seen her pale face in the bathroom mirror though. She snuggled further into the man walking next to her, grateful for the way he held her even closer.

Much to her relief, they managed to leave the hotel building without catching any further attention. Obviously the security guys the man on the rooftop had mentioned hadn't been looking out for them down in the lobby, or anywhere else they had shown up during their escape. A relieved sigh escaped her as the fresh, cold air and the already familiar wind greeted her. This time, it didn't feel like torture. For a brief second, she stopped, feeling the urge to look up the front of the building, to see how far up there she had really been.

"Don't," Eliot told her, interrupting Parker in her thoughts. "Don't remind yourself of it." At her nod, he added, "You'd like me to take you to your warehouse now?"

"No," Parker said before she could even think about an answer. As she felt his questioning look on her, she explained, "I...don't want to be there right now. Not..." Her voice trailed off again. She wanted to tell him that she didn't want to be alone in there. That right now, she didn't want to be alone at all. A quick side-glance made her shiver. Even though she hadn't looked back, she could still tell where she was: right beside where she would have ended up if she had indeed fallen all the way down.

"You'd like to stay at my place for tonight?" he asked then.

Once again, Parker only nodded in response. In fact, she wasn't surprised Eliot had figured out what she had wanted to ask. There was no need for her to say anything in response: a nod was enough. Closing her eyes, she followed him, grateful for every inch they got between themselves and the hotel.


End file.
